Explore the Development of the Road Movie from the 1950s to Present Day Through the Analysis of Themes

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Road movie often portrays desperate characters embarking on a journey to seek out for something better beyond society’s limits. The journey itself is the main embodiment of the various themes, which metaphorically explores a character’s spiritual journey or reflects social critiques. I have chosen Wild Strawberries (1957), Easy Rider (1969), and Paris, Texas (1984) and Thelma and Louise (1991) to analyze the development of themes in relation to their historical background and cultural influence. The themes in European road movie adopt the concept of its American counterparts in portraying a journey as a search for meaning of life. However, rather than representing the road as a political expression of individuality, it transcends the journey into a psychological and spiritual state. The postwar Swedish film Wild Strawberries directed by Ingmar Bergman in 1957 associates travel with introspective reflection: the protagonist Dr. Isak Borg is not travelling away from home, but into his past, society and self. The dreams are a metaphor for his psychological journey, exploring different themes in juxtaposition with the real journey: he confronts his fear for death and his sin of emotional rejection, which instigated his realization that he must openly deal with real life relationships. Nevertheless, the theme of rebellious individuality that flourished in American road movie can be perceived in Wild Strawberries in an evolved sense: the film’s title “Wild Strawberries” connotes the strawberries that grow away from the cultivated gardens of conformity (symbolizing life itself). Thus, it metaphorically indicates that Borg needs to disengage himself from emotional constraints in order to find meaning of life. Furthermore, as Ingmar Bergman states, “no art passes our conscience in the way film does, it goes deep down into the dark rooms of our souls.” I think the

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